Stefan de Vrij: Key for Inter, fringe player for Netherlands
The Dutch defender joined the club from Lazio in the summer of 2018 on a free transfer and has been a key player for them under Antonio Conte; like he was last season under Luciano Spalletti.
But De Vrij isn't seen a crucial member of the Dutch national side, as things stand. He is yet to make an appearance for the side since October 2018.
Since then, he has been on the bench four times and the rest of the five times, he's been out injured. Matthijs de Ligt and Virgil van Dijk are currently seen as the first-choice defenders for the Oranje.
The reason for the exclusions was revealed by Maarten de Roon when the Atalanta man talked to voetballzone: "This is very common in Dutch football culture. In Italy, for example, people do not understand why Stefan de Vrij is not playing by playing with the Netherlands. In their eyes, a strong defender should always play. Many guys here have trained in the best clubs.
"There is much focus on ball possession, technique, position play. This is not my great strength, so I can imagine the discussion. It's like comparing apples and pears.”
Conte sees De Vrij as an immovable part of his side and Inter have already rejected advances from Barcelona to keep the former Lazio man.